Markets Adjust After Boehner Supports Obama in Syria Military Strikes

It just seemed that military strikes by the United States and its allies in Syria were either going to be on hold or delayed. That was then sentiment after the long Labor Day weekend. That was then … Representative John Boehner as Speaker of the House of Representatives has just announced in a very brief televised statement that he is in full support of the calls from President Obama for a call to action against Syria.

This obviously increases the chances that military strikes against assets in Syria will come sooner rather than later, although we have seen that just because the Speaker makes a statement that it is not necessarily assured to match those by other members of Congress. Markets are trying to adjust. The S&P 500 was up by 15 points or so and is now up by only about nine points. The DJIA was up as much as about 120 points earlier and is now up only about 40 points.

We are not seeing any massive spikes higher in oil prices. In fact, the United States Oil (NYSE: USO) is trying to find direction, falling a few cents then recovering up a few cents at $38.54. Crude Oil futures were up about $1 at $104.85 shortly before Boehner spoke. Gold is up by $9.70 per ounce at close to $1,407 on last look, taking SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) up 0.8% to $135.72. Silver was already much higher on Tuesday morning and the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) is up 4% at $23.52 after Boehner’s remarks.